GMMAT

I've found my long range goals in hunting have changed. What started out as a quest to see if I was capable of getting close enough to "A" deer to make it happen......has evolved, greatly.

I conquered that part. I then moved to wanting to take the best deer in my woods....or AT LEAST put myself "in the arena" of attempting to take one of these animals. Did that.

I NOW find my goals (short and long term) changing quite frequently. After talks with my wildlife biologist (something I urge everyone to think about)....my goals have turned to the betterment of the herd I hunt......for the long term. Getting "A" deer, to ME, isn't of great importance, anymore. I want to have a healthy, content herd to hunt for years to come. I'm not even talking about "QAM". I'm talking overall health of the ENTIRE herd. I think the quality of the bucks will take care of itself.

I hear VERY conflicting stories when I sit down with neighboring land owners/lease holders/hunters. I saw a TON of does, this past year. A friend who leases land near me only hunted there a few times. He saw 46 deer in those sits......38 of which were bucks. he took ZERO deer off this tract (120 acres). Another neighbor saw a lot of does, too. He took ZERO bucks off the property.

I hunt about 60 acres (land I actually HUNT) that'sabuts a triangle of land that includes a "Sanctuary" of sorts (parks system) of about 200 acres. The total triangle encompasses 700 or so acres. I know all the guys who hunt these grounds LEGALLY. We're a close-knit bunch.....and we all have similar outlooks. We're lucky in that regard.

I've got my eye on ONE buck that I have a history with. Besides him......I'm likely not to target a buck, this season (never say never, though.....there are bucks that likely grow old and die in these 700 acres that are NEVER seen by a man). Does will fall to all of us, in numbers, though. Our biologist thinks I could take as many as 18 off these properties without affecting deer sightings, too much.

Do you guys do an assessment like this each year? I know some of you aren't lucky enough to be in this type situation, but I'm wondering if you go into each season with "A" game plan (no pun intended).

It would be nice to revisit this thread at the end of our seasons to see how we managed our "game plans".

Thoughts?

harvey261

The last time i actually got to hunt and scout nearly fulltime i had a game plan for the group that i hunt with and i would say it went pretty well. 5 of us shot 6 p and ys between 140 and 190 gross. But yes i know what you mean about goals. I like seeing deer so does really dont bother me and i do not feel there is a reason to shoot them where im at. I think my goals are to hunt hard... find a mature buck and hope he is what i am wanting. But score really isnt an issue. If they are 4.5 or better they are getting shot.

Rick James

Yes, I do the same. 2x years ago when my father first moved to the property that I now hunt, we had the property surveyed and marked for logging. It has been in the family for 60+ years but my father had another farm previous that we hunted hard that ended up getting sold when he retired. The property we hunt now is partially owned by my Great Aunt, Grandparents, Parents, and me and is about 120 acres total.

Anyhow, on the new property we picked someone to manage the logging project that is a retired PA game biologist, and we talked with him at length about what we wanted with the project. We wanted a piece of property that would be ideal for a healthy deer herd, and didn't want the logging project to revolve around $$$. We could have taken a lot more oak and cherry off the property however we left some of the mast producing trees there, and opened up enough for the light to hit the ground good. We also paid to havemost of the tree tops moved to the one side hill that is in the middle of the property to create an ideal bedding area. He also talked with us at length about what we needed to do there for taking deer, and that is shoot the does.Our one neighbor will pass the small bucks and we have some good 2.5-4.5 year olds because of this but they don't shoot does and the population is way out of wack because of that. We will see 5-6 does of 1.5 years for every buck of 1.5 years during season. We try not to shoot bucks unless they are as wide as their ears for now but our real focus is on killing does. We only have about 120 acres total, so we will never have the ability to just grow monster bucks but I do think that if we can kill a good 6+ does off the property this upcoming fall it will help the herd tremendously. Hopefully Rob / PA can come up and help us a bit because between APAJaws, my dad, and myself we can't pull enough tags to get the job done. I need one more guy that I can trust and can get a doe tag or two for 3B in there to shoot one or two does.

We are only 2x years into hunting and working on making this property a better place for the deer but the results are already showing. You should see the deer activity on the tree tops from the logging project and how they are now focused on patches of the property that never before held consistent deer movement. The bedding area we built is used heavily and is a deer sanctuary that we don't disturb. They are more dispersed through the property now, and now we don't see skinny deer with ribs sticking out in the winter pictures, they all seem to be much heavier and healthier in the winter pictures we see. I don't feel they are all competing for the same food sources now. This upcoming year should really produce some good deer encounters for us, there are 3x bucks I know of that are still on the property that are just about 3 years old now and one that has got to be 5 years old right now that is very very sneaky.

Call me an antler farmer if you want but I love spending the time making the food plots and photographing the deer and to be honest I only hunted a food plot one time this year during late season when I had a tag that needed to be filled.The rest ofthe hunts that occurred on this property were all a long ways away from the food plots.

atlasman

IL-Cornfed

Yes sir, goals and attitudes change quickly especially the more a man loves this sport. The more you love it, the more sacrifices you are willing to make and the more you're willing to put into it. These days I seem content to simply watch and enjoy the show the vast majority of the time. I have a certain caliber of animal that I'm generally looking for but most importantly I hope that my property serves more as protection for most areadeer. I, like you, practice QDM by harvesting an alloted number of Antlerless deer that we generally determine through our own observations and those recorded by our trail cams. We try to keep sex ratios and herd numbers in check and constantly monitor them throughout the year. I have areas dedicated as sanctuary and work hard on habitat improvement projects from foodplots to bedding thicket improvments. To watch deer mature and thrive on property that you put your heart and soul into is what it is all about for me. In fact, I never really understood the term "blood, sweat and tears" until I tried to elevate my game and dedicate my hunting towards mature bucks and a quality herd. I wouldn't have it any other way though. I also have even more of a reason to get excited these days, with 3 young childrenbut only 1 old enough to hunt for now, I look very forward to sharing this hunting with them in the future. Allowing my kids the chance to observe and learn nature and all the principles of QDM is a tremendous reward for me. I have spent more time in the past few seasons helping other sportsman and youth hunters harvest their trophy deer and turkey than I probably have myself but I find myself reliving the excitement as if I were 20 years younger. The "buzz" I get watching a hunter hear their first spring gobble boom from only 60 yards away still jumpstarts me. The wide eyed look on someones face when that mature buck steps out of the brush only 50 yards away..... man, that's what it's ll about. This season you can bet I'll be out there again helping others enjoy tis sport that has rewarded me with so much but I'll still find some days to perch myself 20 feet up and wait for that 150"+ buck to come just a little to close to my stand.

Best of luck to ya this season with all your goals

LittleChief

I don't have any long-range goals yet. I'm starting off exactly where you did, Jeff. I just want to get a buck close enough and make it happen. I'll grow from there.

mauser06

i try to pick my goals and stick with them...

but last year i was new to bow hunting. i wanted to get any legal deer down asap and get one under the belt. i didnt see the does that my area normally holds. i figured on seeing and having many does around me most every hunt. the area i hunt USED to be like that...you couldnt walk in the woods without seeing does. but the herd was greatly reduced. most of my management unit is urban/suburban hunting. except for mostly the area i hunt. its mainly all farm land and wood lots. those wood lots get POUNDED in rifle season...and you can take a doe with a rifle for 5 weeks there...makes it pretty easy for everyone that takes does. so last year i opted to spare the does. i seen nearly as many does as bucks..so i opted to wait for a legal buck. you know the rest

this year im TRYING to find an area to hunt with large deer numbers just to get 1 or 2 under the belt...but i still want a legal buck. legal bucks here is 4pts to a side where i mostly hunt..though if i goto camp its 3.

all depends on time available to hunt and what the area holds. im not going to take out one of the few does that live in a wood lot. ill take one of their bucks out..another buck will most likely breed them.

i want to find some hot spots around my campus. i got EVERY evening available to hunt(depending on what needs done. tuesdays and thursdays are my busy days with 3 classes from 9-315, but could still be on stand by 4...if i wanted..Mon wed fri im done by 11 cant wait...

JimPic

My goals are pretty simple.I will take a deer that gives me the shot I want to take.My property I hunt on is a 3hr trip one-way soI don't scout pre-season and don't have the time for foodplots

HuntingBry

At our deer camp we've been practicing some of these things for a few years now. The guy that owns the property had it timbered out 2 years ago and the guys that own the property down from us had theirs timbered out 5 years ago. We did a lot of shooting does the first couple of years that PA opened up the regs on them and have laid off the last several years. This year was the first year we really started to notice a difference because last year with the farmers' crop rotation and the undergrowth not mature from the clearing the deer hadn't taken hold yet. Now with the cover, the food plots on the timber roads and the farm providing forage there is a considerable difference. The deer look healthier, there is a much better buck to doe ratio, the bucks are more mature and able to establish dominance for breeding, and each year more good bucks are being shot. We may not see as many deer as we used to, but the deer we do see are much bigger in body and healthier looking.

shed33

My goals have changed, especially my long term goals over the years.

Today my long term goals are to stay active in the NASP program along with taking at least a student or two a year hunting that otherwise would not have the opportunty.

Personal for hunting. I will keep this short and sweet. Hunt only the mature animals in my areas. Let the young grow up.

Continue to work with habitat enhancement and landowners.